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FRONT PAGE CONTRIBUTOR

Steven Chu to leave Department of Energy?

Secretary of Energy Steven Chu may be leaving the post during the next term of the Obama administration. Among those on the list to replace Chu are Ritter; Tom Steyer, a Democrat from California; former North Dakota Sen. Byron Dorgan; Susan Tierney, a former assistant energy secretary; and Steve Westley, a California businessman, according to The Washington Post.

More at Hot Air, which notes that Dr. Chu has been distinctly subpar as Secretary of Energy ( the man doesn’t understand either politics or finance, which is not unexpected, but also why we don’t normally pick scientists for these positions). As for a replacement, the answer is obvious: Senator-elect Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota. While a Democrat, she’s a strong supporter of both the Keystone pipeline and hydraulic fracking, and frankly what we need now is a Secretary of Energy with some sort of practical background in energy production. At the very least, we need one who might, perhaps, have a better chance to not actually waste the $30B annual budget that we give Energy every year. I think that we’re quite done with having all of these Solyndra-level debacles all of the time, correct?

Also, as a new-minted Senator Heitkamp would also not have the usual confirmation history baggage, either. Lastly, well, she has the advantage of being both female and – as the last election showed – able to connect with conservatives. After all, any Democrat allegedly ready to tell President Obama to his face that he’s wrong on energy policy* deserves serious consideration:all in all the only Democrats who could hate this suggestion would be those too intellectually insecure in their own beliefs to be able to tolerate dissent…

*Not to mention calling for the actual replacement of both Dr. Chu and EPA head Lisa Jackson. This is a remarkably sensible, pro-science position for a national Democrat to take; one wonders how Heitkamp will handle it if/when Big Green notices that she’s this offensive to their religious sensibilities…